Finance Chiefs Get Short Shrift From Bessent’s Other Priorities

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on April 15 in Washington.Photographer: Mattie Neretin/Bloomberg

The message from US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to his fellow economic policymakers a year ago came as a welcome surprise — that “America First does not mean America alone” and that the US is “doubling down on our engagement with the international economic system.”

That pledge rang hollow in the midst of a worldwide energy crisis 12 months later, according to several officials visiting Washington this week.